Social Responsibility

POLICY & STANDARDS FOR FACTORIES AND SUPPLIERS

The Children's Place has consistently maintained a policy of full compliance with all applicable laws of the United States and of the countries from which the company sources its products. Furthermore, the company warrants to its customers that its products are not knowingly manufactured or imported in violation of any laws. As a result, The Children's Place insists that all of its vendors, suppliers, manufacturers, subcontractors, and agents, adopt the following legal requirements and employment practices.

Legal Requirements

1. Illegal transshipment of merchandise for the purpose of evading United States quota restrictions is specifically prohibited. In order that there be no doubt as to the legality of a shipment, you must advise us at the earliest possible moment if materials or components or garment assembly are to be produced or performed in a country other than the country of final assembly. In this manner, the proper country of origin may be determined well in advance of shipment.

2. At time of shipment, the merchandise must be in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations in the United States, including but not limited to the U.S. Flammable Fabrics Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended.

3. The merchandise shall not infringe or encroach upon any personal, contractual or proprietary rights of any third party.

4. The merchandise shall be safe for the intended purpose and/or reasonably expected purpose and use of The Children's Place and its customers.

Employment Practices

1. The Children's Place will knowingly only conduct business with companies whose workers are voluntarily at the workplace, are not at risk of physical harm, are fairly compensated, and are not exploited in any way.

2. Use of child labor is not permitted. "Child" is defined to mean less than 16 years of age or younger than the compulsory school age. The Children's Place will not knowingly conduct business with companies who use child labor in any of their facilities.

3. Use of prison labor or forced labor is not permitted. The Children's Place will not knowingly conduct business with companies that utilize prison or forced labor or that purchase materials from companies that utilize prison or forced labor.

4. The Children's Place will favor companies that practice non-discriminatory employment on the basis of ability rather than on the basis of gender, race, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, political opinion or social or ethnic origin.

5. The Children's Place will not knowingly conduct business with companies that use corporal punishment or other forms of mental or physical coercion.

6. The Children's Place will not knowingly conduct business with companies that do not provide a safe and healthy working environment to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of or occurring in the course of work.

7. The Children's Place suppliers must recognize and respect the right of employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining.

8. The Children's Place suppliers shall pay employees at least the minimum wage required in the country of manufacture or the prevailing industry wage, whichever is higher, and shall provide legally mandated benefits. Except in extraordinary circumstances, employees of The Children's Place suppliers shall not be required to work regular or overtime hours in excess of those allowed by the laws of the country of manufacture, or, where the laws of such country do not limit the hours of work, in excess of forty-eight (48) hours per week and twelve (12) hours overtime.

9. Except in extraordinary circumstances, employees of The Children's Place suppliers shall be entitled to at least one (1) day off in every seven (7) day period.

10. In addition to compensation for regular hours of work, employees of The Children's Place suppliers shall be compensated for overtime hours at such premium rate as is legally required in the country of manufacture, or, if laws as to overtime compensation do not exist, at a rate at least equal to the regular hourly compensation rate.

The Children's Place Compliance Actions

1. In order to verify compliance with the above requirements, The Children's Place reserves the right to conduct random and unannounced inspections of production facilities and, on a periodic basis, may request proof of production including shipping documents, cutting reports, sewing or knitting operations, workers' attendance records, payroll records, and similar documentation. The Children's Place intends to make every available effort to assure the veracity of all documents it receives and the authenticity of its sources of supply.

2. The Children's Place will require its agents and other inspection facilities to complete the Certification of the Manufacturing Facility for every purchase order.

3. The Children's Place will require its suppliers, manufacturers and subcontractors to complete and include with all original documents submitted for every shipment the Shipment Certification of Compliance.

Consequences of Non-Compliance

If a supplier, manufacturer, subcontractor or agent is determined to have engaged in, participated in or condoned illegal transshipping, quota fraud, use of child labor, or use of forced, convict or indentured (slave) labor in any form, or violated any other of the policies set forth above, the following consequences will occur:

1. The order will be immediately and irrevocably canceled. The vendor, supplier, manufacturer, subcontractor, or agent will bear any and all costs that are incurred by The Children's Place due to cancellation, including but not limited to, damages sustained as a result of The Children's Place's liability to its customers, lost profits and resulting fines and penalties.

2. The Children's Place will immediately cease all further business relationships with the vendor, supplier, manufacturer, subcontractor or agent. All other outstanding orders will also be canceled.

3. All available information including the name of the vendor, supplier, manufacturer, subcontractor or agent may be turned over to the United States Customs Service and other applicable agencies for prosecution under the applicable laws. In the case of illegal transshipment or quota fraud, this information will also be supplied to the local law enforcement officials in the country from which the transshipments or quota fraud were to take place, for appropriate action.